3 Tips for Birthday Presents for Your Boyfriend

Everyone panics about finding the right gift for their boyfriend’s birthday.

Holidays are the time during which people show their appreciation for one another by giving the people they love quality time, positive affirmations, and, of course, material tokens of gratitude. Birthdays are the most personal holidays, and they grant people the perfect occasion to celebrate someone’s existence. Whether the people in your life prefer discount cologne or hand-written letters, this is your chance to show them how much you care.

This personal holiday is incredibly fun and typically regarded as momentous, so there is additional pressure on the material tokens of gratitude to truly reflect that person’s interests. When the person in question is your mother or your best friend, it can be incredibly easy to determine the most appropriate gift.

There is one person, though, who is notoriously hard to shop for, no matter how well you know them or who they are for you specifically. Everyone panics about finding the right gift for their boyfriend’s birthday. Whether it’s due to the intimate nature of the relationship or the social importance placed on a significant other to provide the most personal of gifts, there is just something about buying a present for your boyfriend that is immensely complex. You want to get him the perfect gift, you feel like you know him so well, and yet you cannot seem to come up with a single thing that indicates how important he is to you. All of his expressed desires for a new X-Box game or a different men’s cologne slip your mind, and you are awash in a state of panic.

Thankfully, because this predicament is so incredibly common, people have been deliberating on the best ways to discern what gifts could be best for boyfriends throughout history. Chances are, if nothing specific leapt to the forefront of your consciousness when you heard that your boyfriend’s birthday was coming up, you’re going to need some help to truly impress him. Here are three easy tips for discovering what the perfect present for this special time is.

Tip #1: Make a list of his interests.

Even though birthdays only occur once a year, they are the chance for you to show your special someone how much you care. More than that, this gift should clearly display your intimate and connected understanding of him as a person. That can be a really challenging standard to live up to, especially if this is the first year you have the opportunity to celebrate with him. This first gift can set the precedent for the duration of your relationship, making it a pivotal part in the grand scheme of the life you are trying to build together, which means that discount cologne and a pack of socks can’t be the sole gifts you give. Presents reflect your feelings in a way that other gestures do not. Words can fall short of describing how you feel, and no matter how many times you stare deeply into each other’s eyes you cannot always guarantee that the giddy, loving sensation you feel inside is clearly expressed. When you give your boyfriend a truly remarkable present, it consistently affirms how deeply you feel for him.

Whether you’ve known him for years or weeks, odds are you have an idea about his interests. Maybe he loves men’s cologne, or is an adventurous eater, or has a penchant for muscle cars. Regardless of how vague or peculiar his interests are, you can make a list of everything you know about him. Everything from his favorite color to his most poignant childhood memory has the possibility to reveal the perfect gift to you. Even if your boyfriend has a certain particular thing he enjoys, like themed socks with matching ties or Dolce & Gabanna Light Blue for Men, it can speak volumes to your relationship if you can get him something more. A truly remarkable present combines many facets of his interests to showcase how much you listen to and appreciate him.

Your boyfriend can actually make the decision for you if you listen to him regularly. Offhanded remarks during normal conversation can indicate specific interests and values that pave the way for you to purchase the perfect gift. He may even actually mention something that he wants in particular, like a t-shirt for his favorite band or one of his favorite colognes.

Tip #2: Take sentiment into consideration.

While practicality is an amazingly beneficial aspect of a good gift, the gifts that truly stick with us are the ones that feel more than simply useful. Your boyfriend might be a more driven, independent person with a penchant for practicality and a disdain for sentiment, but even the most hard-hearted individual can melt at the sight of a particularly romantic gesture. Though flowers and chocolate are the face of romance, you do not have to include them for your gift selection to be considered romantic.

Maybe you heard your boyfriend complaining several weeks ago about spilling coffee on his laptop case. From this situation, you can devise that he likes coffee and needs a new case for his laptop. Out of these two options, coffee would be more sentimental, while the case would be more practical. Either way, it shows that you were paying attention to his needs and wants, which is pivotal to any relationship’s success. Then, you can spice up this focal gift with something like a discount cologne or a box of his favorite chocolate to add a romantic element.

Regardless of which present category you think he will prefer, something is lost when you attempt to get a present that is one or the other. Roses, wine, and carefully crafted letters depicting the depth of your connection are brilliant, but they can be just as much of a cop-out as a three-pack of t-shirts from the local department store. What you want is a gift that falls right in the middle of romantic and practical. By combining the two categories, you can appeal to every part of your boyfriend. He can see that you not only appreciate him in an intimate context but that you also care about his overall wellbeing. That sort of respect and attention can forge an even stronger bond between the two of you, which can only make the relationship better.

The most important thing to remember, however, is that you should not get him a novelty gift, because this defies both categories. It is neither practical nor romantic, and it can make him feel like you did not know what to get for him. While ugly sweaters and gag gifts might be appropriate for a friendship, they tend to send the wrong message in any intimate setting. The two of you might laugh about it and enjoy it for the moment, but the present lacks substance and is superficial.

Tip #3: Use the element of surprise.

Whatever you do, you cannot get your boyfriend something he tells you he wants for his birthday. If you do get him something he specifically requested, that cannot be the only thing or even the focal thing you buy. Though it fulfills the practicality quota, buying something that he asks for eliminates any and all potential for sentiment. A surprise is the key to any great gift, even if you’re a terrible gift-getter. You should aim to make him feel special and appreciated, which is impossible if he sends you a link to the exact version of Dolce & Gabanna Light Blue for Men cologne he wants. You have to do more than fill a need.

You can enlist help in this process if need be. To get your boyfriend a surprising gift that he genuinely appreciates, it can be necessary to talk to the people who have known him longer than you. His friends are usually going to be supportive and helpful, because they want him to be happy just as much as you do. His closest friends will be able to give you a fresh perspective that you’ve never had because of the nature of your relationship. They can tell you what his most practical interests are, but they can also tell you about the time he came over all choked up about receiving flowers from his significant other.

Getting a present that is both surprising and desirable can be hard, especially since there is so much to choose from. When you’re trying to determine the best gift, make sure that you pick a present that is high quality. The quality makes all the difference. Maybe you noticed that when he spilled his coffee on his laptop case, he had a cheap case from the local department store. Instead of getting him a replacement of equal value, you can get him a high-quality laptop case with other features he might enjoy. This makes the gift surprising and practical.